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- Quadrangles: The basic squares of land of the rectangular survey system, quadrangles (also government checks, or just checks) are 24 miles square (that means each side is 24 miles long) and are delineated by a principal meridian and a baseline. Way in which the U.S. government uses to subdivide public land. The principal meridians and baselines are based respectively on lines of longitude and latitude.\r\n\r\nYoure likely to see at least a few questions on the on calculating the area of part of a section, and youll also see questions about terminology and some of the measurements that the rectangular survey system uses. document.getElementById("ak_js_1").setAttribute("value",(new Date()).getTime()); Sign up for the newsletter to get exclusive real estate exam tips that I don't share anywhere else. Although the lines start out the same distance apart, they get closer together as you get near one or the other end of the ball.\r\n\r\nCorrection lines and guide meridians were established to correct this problem in the government survey system. There is more than one type of legal description you must know for your exam. Guide meridians run north to south, parallel with principal meridians. According to historian Matthew Dennis, this rectangular survey system allowed the leaders of the young government to apply their "nationalistic, scientific, and engineering mentality in transforming the continental landscape of North America, reconceptualizing its space, subduing and organizing it, and distributing it to white yeoman farmers in Land is designated as either a base line (East-West) or principal meridian line (North-South). Also known as the rectangular survey system or public land survey system, the government survey system refers to a federal land survey system that uses (north and south lines) meridians and (east and west lines) base lines. Read Also: Government Grants For Commercial Real Estate. There are several advantages of the rectangular land survey system. - The system, which was adopted in 1785, is also called the U.S. System of Rectangular Surveys or the rectangular method. Easement Appurtenant Features & Examples | What is an Easement in Real Estate? The Base Line in United States Rectangular Survey System meets its principal meridian at the point of origin, or initial point, for the survey of the land. This system, sometimes called the Public Land Survey System, was created in 1785 to plat or divide real property into squares and rectangles for sale and settling. Doing the math, its 1/2 1/4 640 = 80 acres.\r\n\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_274746\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"556\"]
![\"quarter](\"https://www.dummies.com/wp-content/uploads/real-estate-exam-quarter-section.jpg\")
A quarter section can be split into smaller parts. [/caption]\r\nEach half or quarter section can be further subdivided into halves and quarters. Furthermore, how well individual surveying parties actually met the requirements or recommendations at the time, also varied. Discover what the Rectangular Survey System is, where it is usually used, and its main purpose. The federal government developed the rectangular survey system, or government survey method, to simplify and standardize property descriptions as a replacement for the cumbersome and often inaccurate metes and bounds method. The section in the uppermost northeast corner of a township is section 1. These sections are referred to as fractional sections. The image does not specifically designate which meridian or state, but as they are all divided and labeled the same, this could represent any section of land along any meridian that would be identified in the legal description. Using principal meridians and baselines as points of reference, land areas are divided by two kinds of lines, township lines and range lines. So, you can refer to the south (S) 1/2 of the northwest (NW) 1/4 of a section in a township, for example. The Rectangular Survey System was established in 1785 to identify, divide, and measure land, creating boundary lines for property owners. To find the area of something we take the length times the width. To view the purposes they believe they have legitimate interest for, or to object to this data processing use the vendor list link below. Youre likely to see at least a few questions on the real estate license exams on calculating the area of part of a section, and youll also see questions about terminology and some of the measurements that the rectangular survey system uses. The rectangular survey system is the method of forming specific plots, used commonly in the Public Land Survey System (PLSS) in America. The principal meridians are not located in equal distances from one another. Using principal meridians and baselines as points of reference, land areas are divided by two kinds of lines, township lines and range lines. ","blurb":"","authors":[{"authorId":9566,"name":"John A. Yoegel","slug":"john-a-yoegel","description":"
John A. Yoegel, PhD, is a certified real estate instructor and former board member of the Real Estate Educators Association. The grid is divided into smaller sections known as quadrangles, townships, sections, half-sections, and quarter-sections used to describe property boundaries in most of the United States. Putting the above description into words is half of a quarter section. This indicates that the property is between the baseline and the first township line to the north and between the first and second range lines to the east of the fifth principal meridian. You can drill down by clicking on the land map, but you need to click the calc button to get the latitude and longitude. An area bounded on two sides by guide meridians and on the other two sides by correction lines is called a government check, check, or quadrangle, which is 24 miles square, meaning each of its boundaries is 24 miles long. It is sometimes referred to as the recorded plat survey system, or the recorded map survey system. You got it: Tic tac toe. A mailing label lists your name, street address, city, state, and country. They are the starting points for describing a propertys boundaries. The government survey system divides the country into a huge grid using principal meridians that run north to south and baselines that run east to west. If you would like to change your settings or withdraw consent at any time, the link to do so is in our privacy policy accessible from our home page.. (The figure below shows a variety of divisions in a quarter section. It is known that Jefferson proposed a rectangular survey system, although his system was based on the decimal system -- townships 10 miles by 10 miles. Where a baseline meets a principal meridian is called a point of origin. Sections also are numbered consecutively. The townships are consecutively numbered by their location within the intersection of multiple range lines and township lines. Correction lines occur at every fourth township line or every 24 miles north and south of the baseline. Dont Miss: Can The Government Help Me With Rent. It will serve as the basis for surveys of government in a specified area under its jurisdiction. Psychological Research & Experimental Design, All Teacher Certification Test Prep Courses, Different Types of Estates in Real Estate, Legal Description of Property: Definition, Importance & Example, What is a Land Survey? For example, a Bound could be a road, tree, river, or large rock. Township lines, which run east and west, parallel to baselines, are horizontal parallel lines that form township tiers. Now, the way it really works is for this page to be filled with the lines going up and down and right to left so that you have many townships. Government Survey System or Public Land Survey System functions just like a mailing label on an envelope. The rectangular survey or government survey describes land by reference to a. The creation of the legal description for the Governmental Survey System is based on special longitude and latitude lines called principal meridians and base lines. It is a rectangular approach to surveying the land breaking the district down to quadrangles of 24 miles. The rectangular survey system, often referred to as the government survey system, is based on a system of lines that form rectangles and squares throughout the United States. It was originally proposed by President Thomas Jefferson and is sometimes referred to as the Public Land Survey System (PLSS). The Rectangular Survey System, also known as the Government Survey System or Public Land Survey System, is a method of plotting land boundaries in the United States using a large grid made up of rectangles. Remember that although these correction lines and guide meridians are the way the government deals with the issue of the earths curvature, it isnt the way the government survey system describes land. Tenancy at Will Laws & Examples | What is an Estate at Will? The townships are consecutively numbered by their location within the intersection of multiple range lines and township lines. For example, a Bound could be a road, tree, river, or large rock. The guide meridians occur every 24 miles east and west of the principal meridian. Half sections have an area of 320 acres. The government survey system legal land description method is the subject of this article. Congress created it in 1785 as a more straightforward, faster and more accurate way to identify land. Base lines The Metes and bounds system dates back centuries to the original 13 colonies, while the rectangular survey method was established in 1785 and used in all 36 states formed after that point. Now known as the Public Land Survey System, this system divided the western lands into grid-shaped townships and sections. Dont Miss: American Government A Brief Introduction. The guide meridians occur every 24 miles east and west of the principal meridian. Doing the math, its 1/2 1/4 640 = 80 acres. The Rectangular Survey System, also known as the Public Land Survey System (PLSS) or the Government Survey System, is a way of measuring and establishing boundary lines for large areas of land. You have 80 acres in that plot of land, and that is your answer. The Rectangular Survey System is the basis for the PLSS and is used to survey all public lands in the United States. The system uses Metes, which are straight lines connecting two points, and Bounds, which are identifiable aspects of a property. The first sets of lines respectively are called principal meridians, which run north and south, and baselines, which run east and west. {"appState":{"pageLoadApiCallsStatus":true},"articleState":{"article":{"headers":{"creationTime":"2020-12-02T18:41:21+00:00","modifiedTime":"2021-03-11T20:17:19+00:00","timestamp":"2022-09-14T18:17:55+00:00"},"data":{"breadcrumbs":[{"name":"Academics & The Arts","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/33662"},"slug":"academics-the-arts","categoryId":33662},{"name":"Study Skills & Test Prep","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/33772"},"slug":"study-skills-test-prep","categoryId":33772},{"name":"Real Estate Licensure Exam","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/33793"},"slug":"real-estate-licensure-exam","categoryId":33793}],"title":"Real Estate License Exam: The Rectangular Survey System","strippedTitle":"real estate license exam: the rectangular survey system","slug":"real-estate-license-exam-the-rectangular-survey-system","canonicalUrl":"","seo":{"metaDescription":"Learn about the rectangular survey system and how land is broken up into quadrangles, sections, and townships in the United States. The lines are spaced 24 miles apart, creating squares that are around 576 square miles. Some data is missing in this version that is included in the old version. succeed.
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